Introduction to Emerging Church

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By Arthur W. Lindsley on November 3, 2009 ,

Introduction to Emerging Church

Our theme this month is postmodernism. It is important to note that postmodernism is not just in the culture but in the evangelical church. The emerging church contains a spectrum ranging from orthodox believers relating the Gospel to postmodern people to those who post-modernize the faith, and those in between. It is complex and not easy to reduce to simplistic categories. Some of the emerging leaders (but not all) adapt the message of the Gospel to postmodern assumptions. For some, like Brian McLaren, the problem with the evangelical church is modernism and the answer is postmodernism. Now it is one thing to be concerned to speak in the language of your hearer. If you speak to a Hispanic audience, you may choose to use Spanish. If you speak to post-modernized youth, you want your message to be contemporary (to their perspective) and intelligible (in their language). However, it is another thing to alter the eternal, timeless message of the Gospel by diluting it with postmodern philosophy. This is what some authors and leaders are consciously doing today. The central tendency of their work is to undermine the objective or absolute truth of the Gospel or the authority of Scripture. In fact, the words “objective” or “absolute” would be anathema to these writers . . .

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Arthur W. Lindsley

Senior Fellow for Apologetics, CSLI Arthur W. Lindsley is the Vice President of Theological Initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Works, & Economics. He has served at the C.S. Lewis Institute since 1987 both as President until 1998 and currently as Senior Fellows for Apologetics. Formerly, he was director of Educational Ministries at the Ligonier Valley Study Center, and Staff Specialist with the Coalition for Christian Outreach. He is the author of C.S. Lewis's Case for Christ, True Truth, Love: The Ultimate Apologetic, and co-author with R.C. Sproul and John Gerstner of Classical Apologetics, and has written numerous articles on theology, apologetics, C.S. Lewis, and the lives and works of many other authors and teachers. Art earned his M.Div. from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Pittsburgh.  

COPYRIGHT: This publication is published by C.S. Lewis Institute; 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 301; Springfield, VA 22151. Portions of the publication may be reproduced for noncommercial, local church or ministry use without prior permission. Electronic copies of the PDF files may be duplicated and transmitted via e-mail for personal and church use. Articles may not be modified without prior written permission of the Institute. For questions, contact the Institute: 703.914.5602 or email us.

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